Fads’ goal against France would probably be enough on its own to win him the award, being the most iconic and memorable goal for Scotland in years, and perhaps since Archie Gemmill’s famous score in the 1978 World Cup. It would, of course, be more important in Scotland history if it had led to a tournament qualification, and Fads agrees that the team staying home takes a bit of luster off of the award.

“It is nice to get a personal award but I would gladly swap it to be at the Euro 2008 finals. I am sure we will all be reminded how close we came come the summer, when we are stuck watching it on the TV. I try not to look back too much but beating France, the World Cup finalists, in Paris and scoring the winner with a good goal is special.”

Special indeed, James. Here’s hoping a bit of silverware brings you back to better times, and gets you in the proper mindset for a very tough relegation battle on Sunday, when Birmingham takes on Blackburn. A win is necessary for both McFadden and former Scotland boss Alex McLeish to stay up in the Premiership. Good luck lads.

But Scotland and Rangers striker Kris Boyd made his case quite clearly today in the league cup final, coming off the bench to score two goals and a shootout penalty to put away Dundee United and give Rangers their first trophy in three years. Scotland is a striker-rich side, with James McFadden, Steven Naismith, Garry O’Connor, Boyd and young Steven Fletcher all in competition for what is likely to be one or perhaps two forward positions. Still, a brace and the match winner in a cup final at Hampden, the very park where Scotland will meet Croatia, can’t hurt.

I’ll be here bright and early Monday morning with the full roster as soon as it is announced. Stay tuned.

As big a fan as I am of Scotland #1 Craig Gordon, what does McGregor have to do to get a shot at the Scotland starting job? He’s kept over 20 clean sheets this season in all competitions, and today was really the sole reason that Rangers moved ahead to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup. Man of the Match without a doubt, but George Burley should also have been watching, because Allan may be worthy of a half of play in the Croatia match. Incredible individual performance, and probably the best showing a Scottish keeper has had in club play all year. Nice work, Allan.

The paper’s annual list of ten sports figures to watch in the year to come is headed by none other than Rangers and 1-cap Scotland midfielder Steven Naismith. Jonathan Coates gushes about Naismith’s well-known potential, saying “2008 should be the year when the man twice named Young Player of the Year becomes a grown-up fixture of the Scottish football scene.”

We’ll see if he’s all grown up into Scottish football just yet, but I have to agree (somewhat hopefully) that this should be the year for him. He had a couple of very solid matches for Rangers at the end of 2007, and looks quite ready to jump into the full National team more often than he has yet done. Time will tell if the new Scotland manager (who we might just want to start thinking about naming…) will feature him as at least a regular sub, which I personally think his club performances have merited.